What Naked Yoga Did For Me

Guest Post by Mukunda

Naked yoga probably sounds weird and crazy to many but if you take the time to understand it (and maybe even try it!) I bet you will see how it has the ability to be very beneficial. It was (and is) to me. The first time I tried it I had only done yoga on one or two occasions because I had to for high school gym class. Being naked in front of total strangers was not something I would ever consider doing. But when I found out naked yoga existed I thought this might just be that outside-the-box remedy I was looking for to help me overcome all the insecurities I felt about my body.



As a boy growing up playing many different sports I always felt like I was too small and too weak which sent me down a self destructive path full of drug use, depression and suppression of the negative feelings I had about myself and my physical appearance. It wasn't until I discovered naked yoga that I felt comfortable enough to embrace my body and feel good about the way I looked.

A Random Moment with StarPower

StarPower, hip hop artist

I had a crush on him in 7th grade. He was a bad boy with too much brainpower for his own good. A few years ago when I reconnected with many old junior high school friends, I learned he stuck with hip hop and was also a teacher. I went to a few of his shows and was sold on his in-your-face lyrics. I added him to my "Men of May" UrbanErotika lineup. Now he's taking those skills to teach in Qatar. We fueled up with burgers and soccer at Bill's Bar and Burger then headed over to The High Line to discuss.

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Introduce yourself and tell us about art, your discipline.

Rod, R-O-D. I always spell it out because I went to a workshop one time and the guy told me I don’t enunciate well enough he said, “It sounds like you’re saying ‘Roz’” so I always say, Rod – R-O-D. Yeah, Rod AKA StarPower. My art is hip hop – writing and performing. My discipline is discipline; discipline’s changed my life, discipline has made me the person I am ‘cause I had none of it and now it’s an addiction. So yeah, that’s me.

So, you’re a hip hop artist. Is there a message to your music?

Yeah, definitely. The message is to be an individual. A lot of hip hop used to be dangerous, it used to be about “I don’t give a fuck” but it was not give a fuck for a reason. Now they’re not even trying to not give a fuck anymore so I’m not gonna give a fuck for all of us. My message is you’re here once, don’t leave anything on the table, don’t regret anything. There’s a million things that you could be rapping about but they don’t do it. And if you’re in a position, like in my position, I’m just a no-name rapper somewhere, I can say what the hell I want and I’m gonna rap about it. My message is just you’re beautiful, the world is beautiful, it’s also ugly and disgusting and you need to speak about all of it, in detail, that’s how I feel.